01/15/2025
For Immediate Release
January 15, 2025
Contact:
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In response to reports that the Israeli government and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and hostage deal, IfNotNow national spokesperson Eva Borgwardt released the following statement:
"We hope that reports of a deal between the Israeli government and Hamas are real. A ceasefire and hostage exchange cannot come soon enough. Every life is a universe: If this ends the bombardment and starvation, countless universes will be saved. Palestinians in Gaza need food, medicine, homes, and, crucially, freedom. Israeli hostages and thousands of Palestinians unjustly held in Israeli prisons need to be returned to their loved ones. Everyone in the region needs and deserves safety.
We will be profoundly relieved if the bombs stop, if the guns fall silent, if the hostages are reunited with their loved ones, if Palestinians are able to begin to pick up the pieces from this catastrophe, if this genocide ends. At the same time, we remain clear-eyed about the intentions of the Netanyahu and Trump governments to entrench apartheid and dispossession, and we are steadfast in our commitment to fighting for a future of freedom and safety for all.
The past 15 months have revealed both the violent nature and abject failure of the belief that Jewish and Israeli safety can only come from keeping Palestinians unsafe and under military domination. As Trump assumes office and nominates far-right Christian Zionists like Mike Huckabee and Pete Hegseth to direct foreign policy, it is clear that the US government will support further annexing and expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We are committed to fighting the false idea of safety through violence, and we oppose all efforts to widen Israel's land theft and apartheid.
Out of this catastrophe, in the immediate term, we will continue to organize to demand US and international pressure to ensure that the Israeli government end military and settler violence in the West Bank, lifts the blockade on Gaza so Palestinians are able to rebuild their homes and their lives and access the food, water, and medicine they need. But we will not stop fighting for a long-term political solution that ends Israel’s system of apartheid over Palestinians and guarantees equality, justice, and shared safety for Palestinians and Israelis. We must not return to the status quo.
It didn’t have to be this way. There could have been a ceasefire deal and a hostage exchange long ago. Tens of thousands of lives could have been saved. Hospitals and schools could still be standing. Families who have been massacred could still be living in homes that have been bombed to rubble. More hostages could be returning home alive. We will continue to mourn every life taken – every universe destroyed – as we continue to fight for freedom, safety, and dignity for every person who is still with us.”
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